Here at Green School, our parent community consistently bears witness to the many exciting, hands-on learning opportunities our students have access to. Luckily, our “Green School for Grown Ups” programming enables parents to actively participate in our community of learners by also going on experiential trips – or “Jalan Jalans” – to learn about regenerative practices while exploring our beautiful island of Bali.
Recently, our on-campus parent collective, The Bridge, organized a trip to visit The Biosphere Foundation center in West Bali. Parents and their families were invited to spend the weekend partaking in activities involving environmental restoration programs both on land and in the sea. Like Green School, The Biosphere Foundation takes very seriously its mission to educate individuals about the interconnections at play in a healthy biosphere – where reforestation can have direct, positive impacts on coral reefs, and unsustainable farming practices can have detrimental, downstream impacts.
Over the weekend, families had an amazing opportunity to snorkel around Menjangan Island, one of the most beautiful spots for snorkeling in Bali, and learn about how the Biosphere Foundation is restoring and helping to restore this fragile ecosystem. They also hiked up Bukit Indah hill and learned about how they are replanting of trees, the importance of swales, and the creation of ponds to restore soil health and support water catchment in this dry ecosystem.
Each family returned home enriched, inspired and with a stronger sense of being part of our Green School community! Here is what some of our parents had to say:
“It was a priceless experience to hear firsthand from the Biosphere founders and it was much fun for both the adults and children!”
“The weekend inspired us to do better. I started monitoring our daily electric consumption as a first step, and will look at ways to measure water usage as that was a nice wrap up to the weekend having a look at how much water we consumed.”
“A most inspiring weekend with lovely, brilliant hosts. I especially enjoyed the lively discussions on a wide variety of eco-related topics that all ultimately join with one another. I think it was valuable to have the group Q&A’s but also the one-on-one time with the staff to dive deeper into specific topics.”
“We think [The Bridge] did a really great job! It was well organised without putting on too much pressure. If people didn’t want to snorkel they didn’t have to. Food was excellent and abundant!”